Tom Hanson R.I.P.

R.I.P. actor, filmmaker, restaurateur, inventor, Pizza Man founder and doggedly determined Zodiac hunter TOM HANSON, who passed away on February 1 from Alzheimer's at age 89.

I've interviewed a lot of show biz people who've shared their stories with me over the past 30 years, including a handful I've become friends with here on FB or out in the real world, but I'm confident in saying that Tom took the prize for most jaw-dropping revelations per telephone call. As I mention in the intro to Zodiac Hunter: An Interview with Tom Hanson, I wish he had been able to make twenty-two films instead of just two (THE ZODIAC KILLER and A TON OF GRASS GOES TO POT), but I'm glad he packed so much into both of those and I'm grateful for the dozen or more times we spoke on the phone between March 2010 and November 2012. Thanks to his grandson, Scott Hanson, and producer Jeff Broadstreet, I was able to meet Tom in person during a trip to Los Angeles in March 2019, and our conversation picked up pretty much like our phone chats had never ended - and yeah, after that meeting I had no trouble picturing William Devane playing Tom in a movie about the Zodiac trap. I'm sorry that movie never happened, and I'm sorry Tom is gone. Rest in peace and thank you for the adventures. - Chris Poggiali

TOM HANSON

1936 - 2026